My Hero, My Rock
by Fire The Canon
Summary: How was it fair that she – the scared one – had lived and he – the brave one – had died?


_**Written for the 1991 Challenge (Lily Moon, Nose)**_

 _ **Written for the Prompt Relay Challenge (Cemetery)**_

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 **My Hero, My Rock**

She wanders down the narrow path, timidly, withdrawn. The cold air nips at her nose, but she barely notices it. She has been waiting for this moment for a long time now, but never has she had the courage.

Many fears go through her as she draws nearer. What if there's someone else there? What if she can't find it? What if she cries in front of him?

Those are all the reasons that have stopped her going for over a year. Pathetic, she knows; but reasons nonetheless.

The evening is coming fast, now, which is what she wants. The path draws to an end and she is greeted by a set of eerie gates. They are twice her height and three times her width. She is a dwarf in this lonesome graveyard.

"I can do this," she says to herself as the last bit of light fades and she is drawn entirely into darkness. She pushes the gate open and turns left. That is where he said it would be.

Another path leads her down to where it is. They're all new there – a bit over a year old. All of the fallen from the battle, from the war.

Far too many.

She knows she needs to take exactly twenty and a half steps and then she will be there.

 _One… two… three…_ etc. She reaches the spot and turns to her left and there it is. Exactly where the brother said it would be.

A sob escapes her, but she is the only one around to hear it.

Then suddenly guilt overcomes her and she kneels by his tombstone with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I am so sorry it has taken me so long to come!" she cries. "I just… I couldn't do it. I couldn't see you like this when my last memory of you is seeing your bravery, your determination. I wanted to remember the young man we lost that day for who he was, not how he is." Her fingertips brush over the letters of his name. Every crevice is like a punch in her stomach.

Oh, how she had loved him. Oh, how she had begged him not to go and fight – he wasn't old enough, he wasn't supposed to. Then she had loved him even more when he had ignored her and fought because it was the right thing to do.

And then when she had been firing curses at one Death Eater or another, he had been lying there motionless. She hadn't been there to comfort him in his last moments, and that knowledge had eaten away at her over the past year. That, and the fact the she had lived and he had not.

How was that fair? He had shown more bravery than almost anybody she knew. She had fought because her friends had and for no other reason. Given the chance again and she would have run away screaming.

How was it fair that she – the scared one – had lived and he – the brave one – had died?

It wasn't.

She takes out her wand and conjures a bunch of flowers. With a heavy heart she places them by his tombstone.

 _Colin Elroy Creevey_

 _October 7, 1981 – May 2, 1998_

 _Gone, but not forgotten_

Why couldn't they have had more time together? It had only been a few months (but a few _great_ months).

She runs her fingers over the inscription again before getting to her feet. The wind throws her hair in an array he used to laugh at. Closing her eyes, she pictures his laughing, smiling face; and in the wind, it's like… she can hear him.

A tear trickles down her cheek and she turns. "I'll never forget you, Colin," she whispers. Her eyes are now set on another; one who had watched her walk down the path and open the gates. One who had been through it all with her – from every bit of laughter and pain and guilt over the past year.

Her rock.

They approach her now, smiling. "I told you, you could do it." Their voice is a whisper, too.

She smiles.

"Feel better?"

She nods.

He squeezes her hand and tugs it gently, encouraging her away from the grave. Gently, her rock speaks again. "We'll come back when you're ready."

"A week," she says without hesitation.

Her rock nods, understanding. "A week," he agrees.

They walk back along the quiet path – hand in hand. Everything she's felt over the last year – from guilt to despair – is lifted from her shoulders. She feels freer.

Colin is her hero, but his brother is her rock. Without him, she never would have come tonight. She never would have been brave.

Colin Creevey had made her who she is, but Dennis Creevey completed her. Without either of them, she would have been lost.

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 _ **Slowly getting back into writing again. Slowly. I hope you all like it. Your comments would be very much appreciated :)**_

 _ **Also, if you would like to see me write any pairings/characters/anything, please PM me. I am accepting requests via PM for my If You Dare collection.**_


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